Today’s extra flaky handheld apple turnovers come together with homemade puff pastry dough, gooey rich apple filling, and a drizzle of homemade caramel sauce on top. You can skip the from-scratch dough and use store-bought puff pastry if desired.
I originally published this recipe in 2013 and have since added new photos, a few more success tips, and have given the option for homemade dough.
Have you ever tried making apple turnovers before? If not, let me encourage you. They’re much easier than a full apple pie, but with all the same apple and cinnamon goodness. These make a great dessert, or an indulgent breakfast—you can prep them ahead and bake fresh in the morning!
Consider these the fall version of fresh berry turnovers.
One reader, Jennifer, commented: “I have made these and they are by far THE BEST dessert I have ever eaten. Not just made, but out of any dessert I have eaten—EVER. I love them so much, it’s a little obsessive … but the filling is THAT good. I kind of want to put it in everything. ★★★★★”
Why You’ll Love These Caramel Apple Turnovers, Too:
- Like apple hand pies, but with a crispy, airy rough puff pastry dough instead of pie crust
- An extra special breakfast treat, perfect for crisp fall mornings
- Can use homemade or store-bought puff pastry dough
- Easy 5-ingredient filling
- Delicious for dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and salted caramel sauce
Start With the Puff Pastry
You can absolutely use store-bought puff pastry dough. Be sure to thaw it before using. I encourage you, however, to try from-scratch puff pastry dough. I use a simpler “rough puff” method to make it. Hundreds of readers have tried it and have been pleasantly surprised with its ease. If you have a few hours (that can be broken up over a couple days!), try the homemade dough. It’s so flaky, and so worth it. 😉
I use it so often that I created a separate page for rough puff pastry with a video tutorial just in case you want it for other recipes that call for it—like butternut squash tart, cinnamon palmiers, cranberry brie puff pastry tarts, savory mushroom tarts, or even this honey pear tart.
Make the rough puff pastry dough ahead of time, because it needs to chill for a while before it’s ready to use in a recipe. I always make it the day before.
What Is “Rough Puff” Pastry?
This shortcut method for making puff pastry dough—known as “rough puff”—has become popular with professional and home bakers alike because it produces bakery-style puff pastry with oodles of buttery, flaky layers.
Unlike breakfast pastries dough, this dough does not require any yeast; and unlike croissants and traditional puff pastry, this dough does not require laminating with a separate layer of butter. Rather, the layers and crisp flakiness come from the particular mixing and folding methods. This recipe simply relies on large pieces of cold butter (lots of it), cold water, and folding.
You’re going to carefully work cold butter into your dry ingredients, hydrate with ice-cold water, and then fold and flatten the dough many times to create countless flaky layers. The dough comes together with just 5 ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, cold butter, and cold water.
5-Ingredient Apple Filling for Turnovers
Like the puff pastry dough, you only need 5 ingredients for the filling, too:
- Apples: I like to use one tart variety and one sweet variety. Here are the best apples for baking.
- Cornstarch: This is the thickener that keeps the juices from being too runny.
- Cinnamon: Apple’s favorite spice!
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract gives the best flavor. Feel free to use homemade vanilla here.
- Sugar: You can use either white or brown sugar here, or try a mix.
You’ll cook down the apples with the other ingredients on the stove. In just a few minutes, the apples will soften, and the juices will transform into a gooey, cinnamon-y sauce. YUM. Set the filling aside to slightly cool while you roll out your puff pastry dough.
How to Assemble Apple Turnovers
Once you have your store-bought dough thawed, or the homemade dough refrigerated (after the second refrigeration as detailed in the rough puff pastry post), it’s time to shape it. For the homemade dough, roll it into a square that’s about 12×12 inches in size. Cut 9 squares, about 4×4 inches each. I always use a pizza cutter to do this. For the store-bought dough, cut each sheet into 4 squares.
Spoon the filling into the center of each square. Fold one corner diagonally across over top of the filling, to make a triangle. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal in the filling.
At this point, I strongly recommend refrigerating the shaped pastries for 15 minutes to help them hold shape in the oven. Brush the chilled pastries with egg wash, so that they bake up beautiful and shiny. Be sure to cut a couple small vents into the top, so steam can escape and allow the pastry dough to puff up perfectly.
Don’t be surprised if some of the filling’s juices seep out on the baking sheet—that’s normal and expected.
Drizzle each with caramel sauce as the topping. You can reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon to make regular caramel sauce, or stick with 1 teaspoon for the salted variety. Instead of caramel, you could lightly dust them with confectioners’ sugar, drizzle with vanilla icing, or enjoy plain.
These turnovers are made with puff pastry, which is made by folding the dough over into itself again and again to create the flaky layers. Once the puff pastry is ready to use, you simply add the filling and then fold it over and seal. Apple strudel, on the other hand, is made with a dough that’s stretched until it’s extremely thin. The paper-thin pastry dough gets topped with the apple filling, and the pastry is then rolled, to create the layers.
Yes. Store-bought frozen puff pastry usually comes with 2 sheets, and you’ll use both. Thaw the puff pastry for about 2 hours at room temperature. Do not let it get too warm, or it will be hard to work with. An easy way to do this is to put the frozen puff pastry in the refrigerator the night before.
Chopped pecans or walnuts make a wonderful addition to this filling; I love the extra texture they give to the gooey filling. Raisins are a common inclusion in apple strudel, and work just as well in these turnovers. Feel free to add about 1/4 cup of add-ins.
Here are the turnovers made with store-bought puff pastry. If you’re short on time, they’re extremely quick and easy this way!
More Caramel Apple Treats
- Salted Caramel Apple Pie
- Apple Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie
- Homemade Caramel Apples
- Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake
- Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars
Homemade Apple Turnovers
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour (add 3 hours for homemade dough)
- Yield: 8 or 9 turnovers
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Easy, buttery, and incredibly flaky turnovers stuffed with gooey cinnamon apples and generously topped with caramel sauce. You can use store-bought puff pastry or homemade pastry dough. To ensure the turnovers hold shape, refrigerate them for 15 minutes before baking.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 lb. homemade rough puff pastry or store-bought frozen & thawed puff pastry (2 sheets)
Filling
- 2 cups (240g) peeled & diced apples (about 2 medium apples)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated or brown sugar (use either)
Egg Wash + Topping
- 1 large egg*
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk (any kind)
- optional: 1/2 cup (145g) salted caramel, for drizzling
Instructions
- Dough: Prepare homemade rough puff pastry dough through 2nd refrigeration. If using store-bought frozen puff pastry, make sure it’s thawed. Keep either dough in the refrigerator until step 4 below.
- Make the filling: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook the apples, cornstarch, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar. Stir constantly for 5 minutes. Reduce to low heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 20 minutes.
- Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Shape the dough: If using homemade dough (makes 9): On a lightly floured work surface using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the puff pastry dough to a 12-inch square. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut nine 4-inch squares. Transfer squares to prepared baking sheets (4 on one, 5 on the other). If using store-bought dough (makes 8): Unroll the puff pastry sheets onto a lightly floured surface. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut each into 4 squares. Transfer squares to prepared baking sheets (4 on each).
- Add the filling: Spoon about 2–3 Tablespoons of apple filling onto the center of each square. Fold one corner of the square over the filling to make a triangle. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal. See photo above for visual. Some apple juices may leak out; that’s OK. Chill the shaped turnovers in the refrigerator, covered or uncovered, for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour (or freeze, see freezing instructions below). You can preheat the oven and make the egg wash (next steps) as they finish up chilling.
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Whisk the egg and milk together. Using a pastry brush, brush on each chilled turnover. Cut 2 or 3 small steam vents in the tops of each to allow steam to escape.
- Bake for 23–25 minutes, or until the turnovers are golden brown. Some butter may leak from the homemade dough, that’s completely normal and expected. Rotate the pans halfway through bake time to avoid uneven browning.
- Cool the turnovers on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. If desired, drizzle each with caramel sauce before serving.
- Cover leftover turnovers and store at room temperature for 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Freezing Unbaked Turnovers: In step 5, you can cover and freeze the shaped turnovers for up to 1 month. Thaw in the refrigerator, then continue with step 6.
- Freezing Baked Turnovers: Baked turnovers can be frozen up to 2 months and thawed overnight in the refrigerator, then warmed up in the oven or microwave.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Saucepan | Rolling Pin | Pizza Cutter | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Pastry Brush
- Apples: Here are the best apples for baking.
- Adding Nuts or Raisins to the Filling: Chopped pecans or walnuts make a wonderful addition to this filling; I love the extra texture they give to the gooey filling. Raisins work, too! Feel free to add about 1/4 cup of add-ins when you add the apples to the stove.
- Egg Wash: An egg wash promises that golden sheen on your pastries. You can skip the egg and use a total of 3 Tablespoons (45ml) milk (any kind, dairy or nondairy) instead.
- Caramel or Salted Caramel: Use this homemade caramel sauce. You can keep it as salted caramel, or reduce the amount of salt to 1/2 teaspoon to make it regular caramel.
- Chilling shaped turnovers: Chilling the shaped turnovers in the refrigerator before baking them helps them maintain their shape in the oven. Remember, cold pastry dough is best. I usually refrigerate them for 15 minutes as the oven preheats. If you’re nervous about placing cold baking sheets into a hot oven (which can cause warping), you have two other options. You can simply assemble the turnovers on parchment paper or silicone baking mats, lift the parchment/baking mat as a whole and place on another baking sheet or directly onto a shelf in the refrigerator. After chilling, carefully lift up and place the entire parchment/baking mat onto the baking sheet for baking. Or you can use a thin spatula and very carefully transfer the assembled unbaked pastries to a large plate to chill.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can I make and freeze the apple filling in advance? Thanks.
Hi Janice, the prepared pie filling could be frozen for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
Hi, I have left over frangipani. How can I use it in the turnovers? Can I just layer it below the apples?
Hi Bharti, that shouldn’t be a problem!
excellent taste and very easy to make! I served the turnovers straight from oven w/vanilla bean ice cream and it was a hit! I measured 2 cups of apples but it wasn’t enough for 2 tbsp of filling for each of the 8 pastries. I could only put 2 tablespoons into 5 of them and then 2 pastries only had one tablespoon, and another I just filled with jam because there was no apple left. So I would recommend 2 and 1/2 cups of diced peeled apples and increasing sugar , cinnamon, and vanilla since apple quantity must be increased if you want to fill 8 pastries .
These turnovers turned out to be excellent. I prepped everything the night before (made the puff pastry, the apple filling and filled all the turnovers) and placed them in the refrigerator over night. I then baked them when I woke up and they turned out with no problems. I was concerned that they might be soggy because of the filling soaking through but I had no issues with them at all. Thank you not only for the turnover recipe but the puff pastry recipe also because my family loves other meals with puff pastry.
Quick and easy to make. I chilled mine for an hour.
They turned out just wonderful.
If reheating a previously frozen, fully cooked turnover that was in the fridge overnight, what temperature would you us and for how long. Enough to warm the inside but not burn the outside.
P.S. I would like to suggest that you introduce a way to search the recipe comments and responses. If you’ve already answered this question I’d be able to find it more easily 😉
Hi Anne, any low temperature is fine—we’d do 300 degrees for just a few minutes. Hope they’re a hit!
Greetings Sally
The homemade puff pastry was an excellent addition to the turnovers. However the apple mixture was not enough to fill 8 pastries. I had my doubts when it called out for 2 apples. I always follow you directions to a “T”.
Hi Dan! Did you measure the chopped apples? If your apples were smaller, you may need more, which is why we include the cup and weight measurements. Glad you enjoyed the pastry recipe!
Excellent recipe; however 2 cups of apples is not enough for 9 turnovers. I needed to double.
Excellent instructions. Very good flavours. Considering that the recipe only yields nine turnovers, I would say it’s not worth the time investment to make your own puff pastry but nice to get the experience. After filling the first 6 with 2-3 tablespoons of filling, as suggested, I had to recheck the recipe, because I ran out of filling. Perhaps 1-2 tablespoons is meant?
Hi Sally! Can I substitute the apples with peaches?
Hi Lizzy! A peach filling could definitely work here, but may take some adjusting since peaches are so much more juicy and soft and apples. Let us know if you give it a try!
Hello! For this recipe, it says to make the turnovers and then place them in the fridge for 15 minutes or up to 1 hour, or to freeze them (and thaw in fridge before baking). I was wanting to make them one evening, then bake off the next evening. Should I still freeze them for those 20ish hours, or would they be okay in the fridge overnight? Thank you!
Hi Tiffany, that should work just fine, although we wouldn’t extend it any longer than that for fear that the filling might start to make the turnovers soggy. Let us know how it goes!
Thank you for the quick reply! My idea is to sell these at a Farmer’s Market, but I live in the south and it gets really hot during the summer. I could keep them cool, but I was just thinking about the costumers who probably wont bring a cooler or anything similar.
Anyway, thanks! I think I’ll figure something out 🙂
Hey Sally! This looks amazing! I was wondering 2 things. First, will these keep well outside at, say, 95 degrees or more for a few hours? Or will they go bad? Also, could I make this with other flavors, blueberries for example?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Anie, most baked goods won’t hold up well in heat for that long. Is there any way to keep them cool? Depending on the humidity, the pastry could lose its texture as well. You can definitely make other flavored hand pies!
Help! The apples and crust are good but the bottom of the crust is wet and if I bake long enough for the bottom to be solid, the rest will burn.
What am I doing wrong?
Hi Brenda! What kind of pans are you using? Are you lining them with parchment or silicone? We would try using a darker pan that conducts heat faster, with parchment, if you can, to try to cook the bottoms a little faster. You could also try moving the baking rack to a higher position to see if that helps.
Sally and staff, I can’t believe I am writing a fan letter but here I am!!! EVERY recipe I’ve tried we’ve all LOVED!!!!! Such a fan and so easy to follow! You gave me the courage to even try your artisan bread which my Grandson (6) said I am the best breadmaker!! thanks for making me a hero in his eyes!!!
We’re so happy to read this, Jo. Thank you for sharing!